Gregg Popovich now No. 5 on the All-Time Winningest NBA Coaches List

What's the story?

San Antonio Spurs' head coach Gregg Popovich moved up a spot, to fifth, on the all-time winningest NBA coaches list.

In case you didn't know

Popovich is the longest tenuring head coach in all of the American professional sports (NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL) - 21 years, 24 days.

Heart of the matter

With the Spurs clinching their 26th win of the season against the New York Knicks at the Garden, their head coach Popovich broke a tie with friend George Karl for the fifth spot on the all-time winningest NBA coaches list.

Congrats to @spurs Coach Gregg Popovich for moving up to 5th on the NBA’s ALL-TIME COACHING WINS list! pic.twitter.com/MlDTX5ZtK5

— NBA (@NBA) January 3, 2018

It was Pop's 1,176th win, 34 behind the next man on the list at the fourth spot - Pat Riley. He might be at the bottom of the Top 5 but Pop has the best winning percentage of them all - .694 and he also reached the landmark of being among the Top 5 in the fewest games - 1694.

As admirable as Pop's feat is, the Spurs game against the Knicks made a lot of noise for plenty of other reasons. These two shots, in particular, were why though:

Manu Gonna Manu... pic.twitter.com/MvHsjuqJLu

— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) January 3, 2018

Wait for it... pic.twitter.com/HivYsadtkl

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) January 3, 2018

What's next?

There is no confirmation of Pop leaving or staying with the Spurs for next season, given his age. However, the rest of this season should be enough for him to jump to No. 3. As mentioned earlier, he is 34 wins behind the fourth spot (Pat Riley). For the third spot to surpass Hall of Famer Jerry Sloan (1221), he needs 11 more after those 34 wins.

Author's take

He might not have the most NBA Championships as a head coach but he is undoubtedly the greatest coach in league history.